Golfing tee



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Patented Sept. 7,1926.

-. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL I). CAPEN, m., or ST. LoUIs coUNTY, MISSOURI, AssIGNoR or oNE-IIALI To PEYTON T. CARB, m.. or CLAYTON, MISSOURI.

eoLFINe TEE.

Application led March 26, 1925. Serial No. 18,579.

should itcome in contact with the tee duringr the players drive.

' A still further object is to provide a. portion of the tee'of a metal that is less malleable than that of the main body of the tee,

this portion to come in direct contact with ball is driven, the tendency is to roll over the forward edge of the ball supporting and support the ball.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel` features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompany, ing drawings., in which- Figure l is a cross sectional view of a golf ball mounted on 'my improved golf tee. Y Figure 2 is atop view of my golftee.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view. Figure 4 is an' enlarged sectional view showing the ball supportingv rimvformed of a diierent piece. Y

The numeral 1 inthe drawin s indicates the shank portion of' my gol tee. The

A lower end of this shank member is tapered to a point as indicated at 2 to facilitate its insertion into the ground. AAt the upper end of this shank a cup-shaped top 3 is located v and upon which'a golf ball 4 is adapted to 40 be placed. The cup-shaped portion of my tee is formed integrally with the shank andl has its concave or open Side at the top away from the shank. The inner curvature of this cup-shaped member is'struck from an imaginary radius which is shorter than the radius of-the golfball. The result isjthat a golf ballwhen placed on my improved tee rests on the sharp rim 5 of the cup-shaped sand tee, which is the type customarily used, conforms to the surface of the balland when the ball is driven, its tendency is .tof

slide oi the tee' and travel without any rotation or lwith reverse rotation 'in"itsrl1ght,

'in the ball during its flight.

dependent upon the manner in which the golf club strikes the ball. This condition is present whether the'tee is made of sand, rubber, or any other material so long as the surface of theball is in conformity with the surface it rests upon. This is' caused by the fact that the clubs used for driving are provided with a vertical ball contacting surface and must strike the ball at or slightly below the point indicated by the arrow in Figure 1 in order to produce a flight. If the ball is struck above this point there is no flight because the ball is driven toward the ground'. lVhen a golf club .with an inclined face is used, the ball is lofted, without rotation if struck squarely, or with reverse rotation if a So-called chop stroke is used.

In my improved golf ball tee, when the rim. This creates what is known as top spin Top spin or rotation 1n the direction of travel is a high,-

' ly desirable condition because its effect is to increase the distance that the ball' will roll afterv it has struck the ground, thus lengthenmg the I. drive.A

ReferriligtoFigure `1'-, if the ball is struck 4 at the poi'nt lindicated by the arrow, or. j slightly below A'this point, the rim 5 which forms' acomparatively sharp edge resists" the balls sliding motion which has' beenimparted to uitby the driving club.` The top portionjof the ball without this resistance goes" ahead relatively faster than the part of the ball'iny contact with' the rim of the tee and in this manner top spin is int-roduced.

f .It is desirable in the manufacture of my improved golf tee to use Some extremely l malleable metal, such as lead, to reduce the liability of damaging a wooden club inthe l event that the dri-vers stroke is so low as to hit the tee. 'Another advantage of my lead tee is that itmay be stepped upon by a person wearingordinary golfing shoes without injury to the shoe or foot.

The enlarged view in Figure 4 shows a rim member 6 of a somewhat less malleable fmetal than the remainder of the tee. This iS-a more expensive construction than my preferred .form but the practical life ofthe tee is greatly increased, By the use of a hard metal to form the run, the rim is better able to withstand hard usage before breaking down. rlhis type of construction still .presents a. soft surface at the portions apt regulate the amount of top spin which is to I be introduced to the driven ball by the angle at which the tee is placed in the ground. If the point is inclined in the direction that the ball is to be driven, there will be a relatively large amount of top spin. 't the tee is inclined away from the direction that the ball is-to be driven, top spin may he eliminated. v

It is obvious that minor changes in the size, form and construction otl my improved golfing tee may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, Without departing from the spirit of my invention as expressed in the following. claims.v

l claim: l

l. A golfing tee Comprisingr a shank and a cup-shaped member thereon formed otl a soft malleable metal, and a ball supporting rim of a relatively hard metal on said cupshaped member.

2. A golfing tee comprising a' shank and a cup-shaped member integrally formed, and a ball supporting rim located interiorly of said cup-shaped member.

3. A. golfing tee comprisinga shank having a pointed end, and a cup-shaped enlargement at the oppositeend, the interior surface of said cup-shaped enlargement having a shorter radius than a golf ball, anda balll supporting.rim mounted interiorly of Said cup-shaped enlargement.

4. A golfing tee comprising a shank, a ball supporting portion on said shank, said ball supporting portion being of less malleable material than said shank. Y

`5. In a golfing tee, a shank of malleable asv material, and a ball supporting portonson i said shank of relatively nonmalleable material.

In testimony whereof I ,hereunto ailix my signature this 21st day of March, 1,925.

SAMUEL n. Carisa, JR. 

